ChildCare Education Institute® (CCEI), an online child care training provider dedicated exclusively to the early care and education workforce, offers LIT101: The Read Aloud Process: Building The Components of Literacy as a no-cost trial course to new CCEI users February 1-28, 2018.

There are many facts with regard to building literacy and reading skills, and we learn more through research and practice every day. One thing we know for sure is that not all children come to kindergarten with the same skills, experiences, or background knowledge. We know there are social and cultural forces at play, such as the fact that children with highly educated parents tend to develop language and literacy skills more readily, not because of genetic factors but simply because of the kinds of learning experiences and the sheer number of words they are more likely to encounter during early childhood. One of the jobs of an early childhood educator is to teach children the pre-reading and reading skills necessary to succeed in school and life.

During early childhood, it is more important to focus on the characteristics of fluent readers, not just which letters make which sounds. With that in mind, read−alouds provide an essential tool for promoting essential early literacy skills. What do young children need in order to build literacy skills? They need read−alouds! This is true up through preschool, kindergarten, and grades 1–3, at least, if not well beyond. Indeed, students should continue “shared readings” throughout their middle school and into the high school years.

This course is about the preparation and skills a teacher needs in order to ensure that read-alouds in the early childhood environment accomplish the literacy-building goals of a good early childhood curriculum. This course is about the process of conducting effective, meaningful read-alouds in order to build foundational literacy skills that children will use for the rest of their lives.

“While read-alouds are a staple in any effective, high-quality early learning program, teachers do not always take advantage of all the ways in which the read-aloud can build essential early literacy skills,” says Maria C. Taylor, President and CEO of CCEI. “A well-planned read-aloud should provide far more than exposure to a good story; through rich, meaningful discussion and related activities, young children should be able to build comprehension and analytical skills as well as background knowledge that will be so important as they develop into independent readers.”

LIT101: The Read Aloud Process: Building The Components of Literacy is a one-hour, intermediate-level course and grants 0.1 IACET CEU upon successful completion. Current CCEI users with active, unlimited annual subscriptions can register for professional development courses at no additional cost when logged in to their CCEI account. Users without subscriptions can purchase child care training courses as block hours through CCEI online enrollment.

ChildCare Education Institute® provides high-quality, distance education certificates and child care training programs in an array of child care settings, including preschool centers, family child care, prekindergarten classrooms, nanny care, online daycare training and more. Over 100 English and Spanish child care training courses are available online to meet licensing, recognition program, and Head Start Requirements. CCEI also has online certification programs that provide the coursework requirement for national credentials including the CDA, Director and Early Childhood Credentials. CCEI, a Council for Professional Recognition CDA Gold Standard™ training provider, is nationally accredited by the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC), is accredited as an Authorized Provider by the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), and is authorized under the Nonpublic Postsecondary Educational Institutions Act of 1990, license number 837.